Trinity Of Ultimates
by Mystery002
Summary: Sequel to An Ultimate's Sacrafice. One year after the fight with Eclipse, Shadow is gone and the Chaos Emeralds are shatterd. What will happen if they are brought back together? And who is this strange new enemy?
1. Dealing With The Loss

Disclaimer: Shadow the Hedgehog and all related characters are copyright of SEGA.

Author's Message: When referring to the planet, it will now be called Earth instead of Mobius.

Chapter 1

It had been one year since the fight with Eclipse. The park in station square was decorated festively. There was a giant stage in the middle of the park. In front of it were about twenty rows of foldable chairs. Beside the stage was a giant object covered with some kind of curtain. The object was in the middle of the park.

Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Rouge, Cream, and Amy sat in the front row. Behind them sat every citizen in station square. The whole park was quiet except for the small birds chirping in their nests.

The mayor of station square walked up on to the stage and stood in front of the microphone.

"Today we honor a hero. A hero of a different sort. A hero who made the ultimate sacrifice to keep this world safe. Shadow the Hedgehog!"

The mayor pulled a long golden rope and the curtain over the object lifted. There stood a giant silver statue of Shadow. A stern look upon his face and his arms crossed.

The whole crowd of people applauded.

"Now, I believe some of Shadow's close friends would like to say a few words."

The mayor motioned for the group of heroes to come over. They all walked up on the stage and stood in a circle around the mike. Sonic was the first to speak.

"Shadow was a good friend and ally. He was always stern and serious, but had his heart in the right place. I will really miss him."

Sonic stepped back and Rouge stepped up.

"Shadow was born into a world of hate and destruction. Even though he had a horrific past, he tried to make the best of his life. I can't even imagine how he felt all the time, but now I hope he is in a better place."

Rouge stepped down and no one else spoke up. The crowd applauded the group of heroes.

5 Hours Later: Rouge's Mansion.

Rouge was sitting in her huge house in the living room with the rest of the gang. The group sat on 3 white couches watching TV.

Sonic decided to break the silence.

"Hey Knuckles!"

The red Echidna looked over at the hedgehog.

"How's it coming along with the broken emeralds?"

"I've fixed six of them already, the last one is half way done."

"Alright, what do you think will happen when they're reformed?"

"I don't know."

Amy spoke up at this point.

"Why did they shatter in the first place?"

"I think Shadow overloaded them when he used that final super attack." Sonic answered.

Upon hearing Shadow's name, Rouge started crying. She got off of the couch and went upstairs to her bedroom. She threw herself down on the bed and sobbed into the sheets.

"Why Shadow? Why?"

Living Room

"She's taking Shadow's death really hard." Tails said.

"I know, but it's been a year, hasn't it?" Amy said.

"You can't rush these things." Sonic said with sadness in his voice. "No one is completely over it."

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

"I'd better get going." Knuckles said.

"What for?" Sonic asked.

"To fix the last emerald. We might need them soon."

Sonic nodded and walked out the door. Tails and Cream also got up and headed home. Now only Sonic and Amy were left.

"Do you think we should talk to Rouge?" Amy asked.

"No, let her let out her sadness. It's especially hard on her."

Amy looked down in sadness.

"I know."


	2. 50 Year Old Memories

Chapter 2

The giant space station known as Ark floated silently in orbit around Earth. Deep within the strange dark room that released Eclipse, another green tube lifted off the ground. A pair of bright, yellow eyes flashed open.

Out of the darkness of the capsule walked a female, light yellow hedgehog. She was wearing a red tank top, solid black tight jeans, and long black boots. Her shirt was short so her stomach was showing. Around her hands were white, fingerless gloves. Above them were golden bracelets.

Her quills were like Knuckles' except they were looser and hung over her shoulders.

The unnamed hedgehog walked out of the dark room and into the main observatory with the giant window over looking Earth. She glanced around the old abandoned hallways as she continued to the room.

The female stopped in front of the giant glass and looked out towards Earth.

FLASH BACK

A curious female hedgehog stood in front of the giant window over looking Earth. Beside her were a black and red hedgehog and a little blonde girl.

The young girl looked over at the human.

"Isn't it beautiful Maria?"

The human nodded

"Don't you agree Shadow?" the hedgehog asked her brother.

"Yes it is, perhaps we will visit some day."

The eyes of the young hedgehog light up.

"That would be great."

Maria looked over at Shadow.

"Shadow, I know you want to visit Earth, I do too. But you know my grandfather. His research is top secret and it can't risk getting exposed."

Shadow lowered his head a little.

At that point Doctor Gerald walked in the room. He was followed by a black floating creature.

Gerald spoke up.

"Shadow, please come here."

Shadow obeyed and walked towards the two with the female's eyes locked on him.

The black creature revealed itself. Black Doom spoke in his hellish voice.

"So this is Shadow. The all powerful ultimate life form."

Shadow looked over at the alien.

"Who are you?"

"Why Shadow, I am your father."

Maria's, the young hedgehog's, and Shadow's eyes all widened.

"What?" the dark hedgehog asked.

"You were created from my blood Shadow. You are my son and I am your father."

Shadow turned to Gerald.

"Is this true?"

Gerald nodded and spoke.

"As you can see, Shadow is obviously fit for your task.

"What task?"

Black Doom spoke up.

"Shadow, fifty years to this day, I will return to this planet. When I do, I will expect the seven Chaos Emeralds. Am I clear?"

The confused Shadow nodded.

"Good, but for now, farewell my son."

Black Doom disappeared in a black flash of light. Gerald left the room to run some more tests. Shadow walked back to the girls.

The girl hedgehog spoke to him.

"What was that all about?"

Without turning towards her he answered.

"I don't know.

END FLASH BACK

The yellow hedgehog closed her eyes for a second before they shot open. In a flash of yellow light, the hedgehog had disappeared and in her place was a small yellow orb. The orb flew straight through the window like it was made of air and headed towards Earth.

Upon arriving on land, the orb turned back to it's former female form. The hedgehog looked around for a minute.

She was on a giant floating island.


	3. Taking Her Mind Off Him

Chapter 3

It was now morning in Rouge's mansion. The treasure hunter was soundly asleep in her bed, lines of black mascara on her cheeks. The light shone through the window and hit her directly in the face.

Rouge's eyes started to open. She looked around for a second, yawned and got out of bed. Lazily, she walked over to her bathroom and shut the door. Rouge took her pajamas off and got into the shower slowly turning the hot water on.

The water slowly began to clean her sad face.

'Why did you have to die Shadow? Why?'

Living Room

Sonic opened his eyes slowly. He looked around for a second and realized he was still on Rouge's couch. On the couch next to him, a female pink hedgehog lay sound asleep. Sonic jumped up and went into the kitchen.

He opened the fridge and took out a carton of eggs and a frying pan out of a cabinet. Turning the stove on, Sonic put the pan on one of the heaters and cracked five eggs into it.

At that point, Amy also awoke and went into the kitchen.

"Good morning Sonic."

Sonic turned to face her before turning back to the eggs.

"Good morning."

Bathroom

Rouge was sitting down in the shower with her arms wrapped around her knees. The hot water still splashing over her body.

'I need to get over him. He's dead and there's nothing I can do about it. Maybe we could go to Twinkle Park. I need to take my mind off him.'

Rouge turned off the shower and got out wrapping her body in a lavender colored towel. She got in front of the mirror and applied some fresh make up. After she was done, she went into her room and put on her Sonic Heroes outfit and walked downstairs.

Living Room

Rouge walked into her living room where she found Sonic and Amy sitting there and eating some eggs.

"You want some eggs Rouge?"

"Sure."

Sonic handed her a plate and she sat down on the third couch eating slowly before she spoke up.

"Why don't we go to Twinkle Park today?"

Amy coughed and Sonic almost spit up his eggs.

"Are you sure Rouge?" Amy asked.

She nodded.

"I need my mind on something else right now, you wanna come Sonic?"

The blue hedgehog nodded.

"Sure I could use the exercise."

The three put their plates down and walked outside to Rouge's Ferrari. After a long silent drive they reached Twinkle Park.

Rouge had a great time and completely forgot about Shadow. They rode roller coasters, ate cotton candy, and rode bumper cars. They all finally sat down at a Café and ordered some soda.

"You having fun Rouge?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, the most I've had in a while."

Amy and Sonic both smiled.

Unbeknownst to them, a dark figure was watching them from atop Twinkle Tower.


	4. Mystery Hedgehog VS Knuckles

Chapter 4

The female hedgehog looked around the rugged terrain that covered the airborne island.

'I sense the chaos emeralds here.'

In a flash the hedgehog took off at speeds that matched Shadow's and Sonic's. Her leg motions were exactly the same as Shadow's and Eclipse's and upon closer detail you could see the black boots she was wearing were hover boots.

The hedgehog skated through the giant forest of the island passing exotic plants and dazzling waterfalls. She had been skating for about ten seconds when what looked like and old stone altar came into view.

'There, that's were they are.'

The female slowed down her pace and stopped in front of the steps to the altar. She put one foot on the ancient looking step when a red flash appeared and almost knocked her down had she not side-stepped. The red blur whirled around on the ground using his hands and lunged at her again. The hedgehog stretched out her hand and caught the person by the neck.

"Who are you?" the red animals voice roared.

The hedgehog took a closer look at him.

"You're an Echidna?"

"Yeah, what's it to ya?"

"I thought they were all extinct."

Knuckles' eyes widened.

"How do you know about that?"

"It's in my memories."

"You're memories?"

"Yes, but they are not mine, they are those of the Echidna princess Tikal."

Knuckles' eyes got even bigger.

"How do you know her?"

"That business is my own, I am not here to explain matters that do not concern you. I am looking for the Chaos Emeralds."

"The emeralds! Why?"

"like I said before, that does not concern you."

The hedgehog loosened her grip on Knuckles and put him down.

"Give me the emeralds, now!"

"No!"

"Very well."

The hedgehog stretched her hand out and pointed it towards Knuckles.

"You leave me no choice! Chaos Arrow!"

A bright yellow energy bolt erupted from her hand and flew straight at Knuckles.

"Thunder Arrow!"

Knuckles also released his attack and the two met causing a small explosion.

"How do you know how to use Chaos attacks?" Knuckles asked.

"If you must know, I knew them since birth, now hand over the emeralds!"

"Never!"

The female glared at Knuckles and in a flash she was gone.

"What?"

Knuckles looked around and spotted her on top of the altar picking up a small golden object.

"No!"

Knuckles ran up to the altar and stood in front of her.

"Give that back!"

The hedgehog did not answer his question.

"This is only an emerald shard, where are the chaos emeralds?"

"I'm not telling you!"

"Humph, fine. This will have to do for now since you are so stubborn."

The hedgehog turned to leave.

"You can't take that, I need it!"

"No I do."

And with a gust of wind, she was gone.


	5. Vengeance Of A Mystery

Chapter 5

The figure that stood on top of Twinkle Tower was none other than the mystery hedgehog. The emerald shard now hung over her neck by a piece of string she had found. She looked down upon the small group of heroes sitting at a Café. Her gaze turned towards the male hedgehog.

"Shadow?"

FLASHBACK

"Come on, you can do better than that." Shadow mocked as he dodged the kicks and punches the female hedgehog was throwing at him.

"Hold still Shadow."

The female threw a punch which was caught by Shadow. He quickly pulled her up and delivered a round house kick towards her face. The hedgehog skidded to the floor. Shadow stood above her.

"Humph, I thought you were stronger."

END FLASHBACK

"Shadow, you will pay for the pain you put me through."

The hedgehog jumped off the building and landed in front of the group.

"What the?" the male exclaimed.

"Who are you?" the white bat exclaimed.

"Who I am is of no importance, all that is important is that I want Shadow."

Everyone's eyes widened.

"How do you know Shadow?" the pink hedgehog exclaimed.

"That does not matter. Shadow step forth!" she yelled pointing at Sonic.

"Whoa princess, you got the wrong hedgehog. My name is Sonic."

"Sonic? Well yes, I see you clearly now. You're not Shadow. Well then, where is he?"

Everyone looked at the ground.

"He's dead." Rouge said.

"What? No! That honor should have gone to me!"

Rouge glared at the hedgehog in a manner that is totally unexpected of her.

"Honor? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Huh, why are you so upset, were you his girlfriend or something? How pathetic."

Rouge couldn't take anymore. She lunged herself at the hedgehog. Rouge threw her fist back and was about to make impact when she disappeared.

"What the?"

At that moment, Rouge felt a hard boot against her back as the hedgehog kicked her there.

"Rouge!" Amy yelled.

At that point, Sonic andAmy rushed over and helped Rouge up. The hedgehog was in front of them.

"You! Don't you EVER talk about Shadow like that again!" Rouge yelled pointing a trembling finger at the hedgehog.

The hedgehog shook her finger.

"Touché, touché."

Sonic's eyes fell towards the emerald shard.

"Hey, that's a piece of a chaos emerald!"

The hedgehog also looked down at her shard.

"Indeed, that foolish Echidna was no match for me!"

"You hurt Knuckles?" Amy asked.

"No, not too seriously. I don't have time to deal with small fry. I set my sights on Shadow."

"But I told you, he's dead." Rouge screamed.

"Hmmm, that is correct. But now that he is out of the way, I might as well do what Gerald assigned me to do."

Everyone's eyes widened.

"Professor Gerald Robotnik?" they all asked.

"Yes, and I will fulfill his plans for revenge on the humans for killing Maria!"

"Y-you mean Maria? F-from 50 years ago?" Amy quivered.

"Of course."

"How can that be?" Sonic asked. "Who are you?"

The female closed her eyes and smirked. She opened them after a few seconds and spoke.

"I am Amber The Hedgehog!"


	6. Knuckles' Plan

Chapter 6

Knuckles stood on top of the master emerald alter pondering over the words of the mystery hedgehog.

'How can she use chaos attacks? And how does she know about Tikal? I must find out.'

Knuckles lifted a stone plate off of the altar to reveal seven glimmering objects. He picked them all up and shrunk them. After, he put them in his natural fur pockets.

Next, he walked over to the master emerald and shrunk it. He looked down upon it and concentrated.

"Bring me to the mysterious hedgehog!"

In a flash of light, Knuckles was gone.

Twinkle Park

Knuckles reappeared in Twinkle park just in time to see Amber, Sonic, Rouge, and Amy disappear.

"Damn."

"Hey Knuckles."

Knuckles turned around to find Tails standing before him.

"Hi Tails."

"Have you seen Sonic?"

"Yeah and as a matter of fact, I'm going to need your help."

Tails leaned forward as Knuckles started explaining his plan.


	7. Emeralds Reformed

Chapter 7

Amber stood in front of the group of heroes, studying each carefully. The bat seemed like a good flier, the male hedgehog looked like a runner, and the rose hedgehog looked to mentally strong.

"You will all pay for what you did to Maria!" Amber screamed.

"Oh boy, here we go again." Sonic said. "Look Amber, Shadow tried doing the exact same thing two years ago but he found out that Maria wanted him to protect the planet, not destroy it."

Amber faced him.

"And what do you know? You arrogant, foolish little hedgehog. This world is being destroyed by the humans. I'm just speeding it up. Maria was too young to know what she wanted. I don't follow a little girl's orders like Shadow. I listen to Gerald alone."

"Amber please." Amy spoke. "You don't look evil at all. Shadow was far more intimidating and he turned out to be a hero."

Amber smirked.

"That just shows you that looks can be deceiving."

In a flash, Amber sped to the group and grabbed onto them.

"Chaos Control!"

In a flash of golden light, they were gone.

Mountainous Area

The group reappeared on top of a huge boulder. Amy and Rouge were kind of dizzy since they never used chaos control but Sonic was fine and staring at Amber.

"Amber, why did you bring us here?"

"For an uninterrupted battle. I know you three are all this pathetic planet has to offer and once you are all out of the way, no one will stop me!"

"THINK AGAIN!" a familiar voice shouted. Sonic, Amber, Amy , and Rouge all looked over towards another boulder. Standing on it were none other than Knuckles and Tails.

Amber smirked upon laying eyes on Knuckles.

"Couldn't stand losing to me huh?"

"Yeah right, you pulled some cheap tricks and it won't happen again."

"Say what you want to, it still won't matter."

Amber's eyes then fell to the chaos emeralds sticking out of Knuckles' natural fur pockets. She threw her head back and laughed.

"You truly are a fool Echidna. Bringing the emeralds here was the worst thing you could have done."

"Yeah well, maybe I got a plan." Knuckles responded eying the emerald shard around her neck.

"NOW TAILS!"

On cue, Tails pulled out a small laser rifle and fired it at Amber who had no time to react and was hit in the eyes.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH."

Knuckles turned to Sonic.

"Sonic, she's temporarily blinded, grab the shard!"

Sonic nodded and sped towards the screaming hedgehog.. He stuck his hand forth and ripped the shard off.

"Good, now bring it here!" Tails screamed.

Sonic nodded again and sped towards Knuckles and Tails. Rouge and Amy were at his side. When the group reached them, Sonic threw the shard to Knuckles.

"Here, reform it now!"

Knuckles caught the shard and was about to reconnect it with the emerald when a hand grabbed it away.

Amber laughed at the group.

"Did you really think it would be that easy? Chaooooooos Arrooooooooow!"

Amber's attack flew and hit Tails and Knuckles. The chaos and master emerald dropped to the ground beside them. Amber was about to reach for the emeralds when:

"Black Wave!"

Rouge's attack hit Amber in the back causing her to drop the shard at Knuckles feet who was up again.

"Knuckles do it now!" Rouge screamed.

Amber's eyes widened.

"Noooooooooooooo!"

Knuckles grabbed the shard and reconnected it with the golden chaos emerald.


	8. Rebirth

Chapter 8

As soon as the shard came into contact with the emerald, it started to glow a fierce pale gold. The emerald started tugging in the Echidna's grip and he released it. The emerald floated to a nearby rocky hill were it hovered.

One by one, the other emeralds also began to float . Red, light blue, dark blue, green, purple, and silver all floated as everyone, including Amber, stood and watched in awe.

"What's happening?" asked Amy

Everyone just shook their heads.

The six emeralds floated over to the solitaire golden emerald. As if rehearsed, all seven formed a perfect horizontal circle and began to spin.

The spinning of the emeralds increased by the second until they were no more than a blur of rainbow.

The emeralds continued to spin as small lighting bolts crackled around and in the mystical circle.

The sky grew dark, winds picked up dramatically, and lighting roared from above. The lighting bolts were crashing to the ground inside of the circle of the spinning emeralds.

"What in the world? Knuckles, have they ever done this before?" Sonic asked turning towards the Echidna who was standing with him and the rest of the group about a hundred feet away from the emeralds.

The Echidna just shook his head without taking his eyes off of the emeralds.

The emeralds were now creating a light inside of their circle. The lighting still crackled from above and rain started to pour but no one paid attention to it.

The light inside of the circle suddenly transformed into a giant light ball and the chaos emeralds, still spinning, entered it.

The ball turned from white, to those of the emeralds. The giant ball slowly created lighting around it as two silhouettes became visible within it.

Everyone squinted their eyes as the figures became clearer in the giant energy orb. They were the forms of two hedgehogs.

Rouge was the first to see that the figures were hedgehogs. Her eyes widened.

"It can't be."

After a few seconds, everyone else distinguished the figures as hedgehogs as well and their eyes grew wide.

"Could it be…" Sonic muttered.

All of a sudden, the wind turned into a giant rainbow colored tornado and the orb faded into it, along with the two figures.

It stayed like this for a few seconds before there was a giant multicolored explosion.

Everyone's arms shot up out of instinct to protect their eyes.

When the light subsided, and everyone lowered their arms, they were met by the sight of two hedgehogs in their super forms. Their quills were blowing up viciously because of the wind and rain.

Rouge recognized the two hedgehogs, along with everyone else.

"Eclipse and……Shadow!"


	9. The Awakening

Chapter 9

Indeed, the two hedgehogs that were silently floating in the stormy sky were Shadow and Eclipse.

"How can it be?" Tails muttered.

The two super hedgehogs both had their eyes closed and looked to be in some sort of deep trance.

Amber was also confused at the sight. She had never seen the golden and silver hedgehog before but she recognized the red streaked one all too well.

"Shadow."

Then without warning, both hedgehogs dropped out of the sky, their super forms burning away as they sped towards the wet, rocky ground.

Sonic was the first to react. In a flash, he jumped past boulders and rocks and sped towards the falling Shadow.

Seconds before Shadow hit the ground, Sonic scooped him up in his arms and sped back to the group while Eclipse landed on the ground with a loud crash, cracking the rock in which he made impact with.

When Sonic reached the group, he gently lay Shadow down in the wet dirt as the rest of the group huddled closer.

"Is it really him?" Knuckles asked.

The dark hedgehog's eyes were still firmly shut.

Rouge was also standing with the group, looking down upon Shadow. She couldn't believe it. He was back. After one miserable year, Shadow had returned from the dead. At that point, she didn't care how or why, she could only feel the relief of seeing him alive, just as she had before.

FLASHBACK

The huge metallic door slid open to reveal a lone blue hedgehog standing there with a sad look on his face.

"Where is Shadow?" Rouge asked.

Sonic only lowered his head and shook it. Sonic walked up to her and placed a golden bracelet in her hands.

END FLASHBACK

She also remembered the tiny bit of hope that he survived.

FLASHBACK

"So what's next for you Rouge? Off again to find those jewels you love so much?" Knuckles asked.

"Nah I think I'm going to give it up. Too much work for too little pay. Besides, I got something better than jewels that I'm thinking about right now." Rouge said glancing upon Shadow's bracelet.

He had to have survived.

"It'll all work out, you'll see."

"If you say so." Knuckles responded. He knew she was talking about Shadow. He wanted him to have survived too, but that was impossible.

END FLASHBACK

Rouge sighed and kneeled in front of the hedgehog. She remembered the joy after discovering he had survived the ARK incident.

FLASHBACK

This must be it, I've found Eggman's secret treasure!" Rouge exclaimed happily as she entered the dark room. She began typing at a console in front of a large green pod.

The pod lifted off the ground to reveal a black and red hedgehog.

"Shadow!"

END FLASHBACK

Rouge raised her hand and brought it to the dark hedgehog's forehead. She began to softly stroke it with the back of her hand.

"Wake up, my dark prince."

Suddenly, Shadow's eyes began to twitch and his body began to stir.

His vision was fuzzy at first as he opened his usually fierce looking red eyes. However, they could not have intimidated a kitten at this point.

Ruby met emerald as Shadow looked directly into Rouge's eyes.

"Rouge?"

Rouge nodded. There were small pools of water now forming at the edges of her eyes. Her tears were released as she flung herself into Shadow's arms.

100 Yards Away

Icy, silver eyes also began to open as Eclipse began to grasp onto reality. The weary hedgehog weakly pushed his upper body up using his sore muscles. His legs were still on the ground.

'Wha-What happened? The last thing I remember is this giant white light and screams and…….Shadow!'

At that point, as of by some higher power, all the energy returned to Eclipse's body as he threw himself off of the ground. His white and silver fur looked more darker due to the rain and his quills drooped down. This didn't bother him however. His mind was fixed on one thing alone as he sped through the rain towards the group of heroes a few dozen yards away. Shadow.

With Amber

She could not believe it. Her brother, the one that was supposedly dead was laying there, surrounded by his companions….and that bat. Anger began to boil in her beautiful body. HE had cheated death. He had actually mocked the grim reaper and played god.

'Why am I not surprised?'

It had always been like this. Shadow could pull himself out of anything. And this had proven it once and for all.

"Good, not that he's back, I will have the pleasure of eliminating him for good."

And with that said, Amber raced towards the group.


	10. Setting The Stage

Chapter 10

Shadow, even in his weakened state, returned Rouge's embrace as he felt her hot tears run off her own face and on to his.

"Rouge, it's alright. Stop crying."

The rest of the group also had tears in their eyes from seeing their ally alive and healthy. Even the 'tough' Knuckles was shedding tears.

Rouge leaned closer and whispered in Shadow's ear.

"Don't ever do that again."

He whispered back.

"I made a promise, didn't I?"

Rouge lifted her head and smiled warmly at Shadow.

All the peace was interrupted however, when two familiar voices echoed through the air.

"Chaos Sword!"

Chaos Arrow!"

The two attacks released by Amber and Eclipse flew straight towards the group. Knuckles and Sonic stepped forth and countered the attack.

"Thunder Arrow!"

Sonic Wind!"

Both attacks combined and knocked the two energy blasts to the right, where they harmlessly destroyed a small rocky hill.

Both hedgehogs landed on the ground and stared at the group. It wasn't for a full minute that they realized they were standing next to each other. They both slowly turned around and faced each other, completely ignoring the group of heroes. Eclipse was the first to speak.

"Who the hell are you?"

The female responded.

"You tell me who you are first!"

"I am Eclipse the hedgehog!"

Suddenly, as if being dropped in a pool of ice water, a memory hit her as her eyed widened.

FLASHBACK

Amber the hedgehog was silently sneaking around the old, restricted hallways of the space colony ARK. She had been hiding from Shadow because he wanted to put her through more rigorous training.

The young hedgehog slowly crept down a dark hallway to a metallic door.

'He'll never find me in here.' She thought.

'What's this?' She thought after seeing a bright red control panel with 26 letters inscribed into it.

"A password required eh? Well no problem, I know the password to every computer on this station."

She began typing in letters. First an M. Then a A. Then a R. Next an I. And finally another A.

"Access approved."

The huge metallic door lifted open as Amber stepped inside. Before her were three green stasis pods. Two were empty but the one to the far right housed a figure. The hedgehog stepped in to get a closer look and crept over to the pod.

Inside was a white and silver hedgehog. His eyes were firmly shut and there was a mask over his muzzle. Surrounding him was a strange green liquid. There was some sort of sign on a panel in front of the tube. It read:

_Ultimate Life Form Project 001_

_Codename: Project Eclipse_

_Status: Stable_

_FAILED EXPERIMENT_

END FLASHBACK

"Eclipse…" she murmured.

"Yes, that is my name."

"Are you one of the ultimate life form projects?"

"Yes and you are…."

"My name is Amber, I am also a ultimate life form experiment."

Eclipse's eyes widened, along with everyone else's.

"You're the final experiment?" Eclipse asked.

Amber nodded. Then all of a sudden, Eclipse threw his head back and laughed.

"This is too perfect. I have both of the other experiments here. Now I can proove once and for all that I am the best and destroy you both."

Amber snickered.

"If anyone's going to kill Shadow, it'll be me. Get in my way and I'll be forced to kill you too!"

"Is that so? Well then, looks like we have ourselves a three way battle"

At this point, Shadow had regained enough energy to stand. Rouge however, was still holding on to him. Eclipse and Amber both looked at Shadow.

"Whoever wins will be the true ultimate life form." Amber stated.

"Yes, now Shadow, pry yourself loose from that pathetic creature and meet your destiny."

Upon hearing those words, Shadow regained the fiery look in his eyes and stood up straight.

'He had gone too far this time!'

Shadow looked over at Rouge and gave her a rare, warm smile.

"Please let me go."

"Are you sure?"

Shadow nodded and turned to the rest.

"The rest of you leave as well. I know you want to help but you will only be aiding them if you stay."

Everyone nodded and Rouge released Shadow.

The dark hedgehog made his way up to his 'siblings'. The three stood in a perfect triangle formation. All three had cocky smirks on their faces. Shadow turned around one last time and his smirk vanished when he saw the group leaving. Rouge turned around one more time and mouthed Shadow some words.

Even though he couldn't hear them, he knew all too well what they were and he gave her a warm smile before he turned around again.

"Come back to me."


	11. The Ultimate Battle Part 1

Chapter 11

The strong winds and rain of the storm was taking its toll on the three hedgehogs. Their bodies were unfazed but their fur and quills were now much darker than their natural color. Their quills all drooped down as water ran off of their muzzles. Amber's clothes were now soaked and also seemed darker.

"You all ready?" Eclipse asked.

"This is it, the battle to decide the true ultimate life form." Amber stated with hate in her beautiful voice.

Shadow shook his head.

"No more talking. This ends here!"

And with that said, Shadow kicked off the ground towards Eclipse. The water seemed to be pushed aside from this great burst of speed.

Eclipse got into a fighting pose. Shadow made impact with the white hedgehog with his elbow. However, Eclipse put his elbow in the same position to block the assault.

There was a loud boom that knocked the water back from the hedgehogs. Shadow quickly threw himself back and tried to deliver a round house kick. Eclipse threw his arm up and blocked the attack.

Amber, not wanting to be left out, also charged forward towards the two male hedgehogs. The female threw back her fist and made impact with the side of Shadow's head.

Shadow was startled by this and momentarily threw his head sideways out of natural instinct. This moment was enough for Eclipse however, as he delivered his own fist towards Shadow's face.

The dark hedgehog had no time to block and was sent to the ground hard. Eclipse put his attention on Amber and delivered a straight kick to her stomach. Amber, with lighting fast reflexes, put both of her hands down and caught his foot.

She began to pivot on her foot as she turned round and round, carrying Eclipse. Her speed increased and she released Eclipse into the air. He reacted however, by spinning in mid-air and landing on the ground.

Shadow was back up at this point and ran towards Amber. He threw his fist back and punched Amber in the stomach. She bent over in pain and was met with a silver and white shoe to the side of the head by Eclipse.

The golden hedgehog skidded to the ground. Shadow and Eclipse once again faced each other. They stood their ground for a moment before charging at each other. Both threw their fists back and the two gloved hands met, creating a shock wave that knocked the falling water back.

Both hedgehogs also flew back but skidded to a halt. Shadow was panting hard. There were now a few open cuts on his face. The rain quickly washed the blood away which only left light red streaks on his face.

Amber broke in at this point and charged for Eclipse. Eclipse put his guard up but right before she made contact, she disappeared. Eclipse looked around for a minute before the back of his head made contact with a black boot.

Spit flew out of his mouth as he took one knee, resting one hand upon it. Shadow didn't give him a spare breath however, as he once again charged. Shadow pulled his open hand back and began gathering energy in it.

"Chaaaaoooos…"

Shadow hand shot forth inches before Eclipse's face.

"Speeaaaaaaaar!"

The yellow bolt of energy made contact with Eclipse's face and was shrouded in the light. The attack continued on towards Amber but she chaos controlled out of the way, reappearing five feet left of her previous position.

The light disappeared as Shadow stood upright. There laying on the ground, was a headless Eclipse.

"I guess it's over for him." Amber snickered.

"I wouldn't be too sure." Shadow countered.

On cue, Eclipse's body began to glow and his head reformed.

"How in the hell?" Amber stated in shock.

Eclipse stood up straight and cracked his neck a few times.

"You know it'll take a lot more than that to take me down Shadow."

Shadow smirked.

"I know."

Amber cut in.

"How in the hell can you survive that?"

"I'm the ultimate life form. I can do anything."

Amber smirked.

"You haven't earned that title yet."

Amber charged at Eclipse who chaos controlled out of the way. He re-appeared on top of a mountain and stared down upon the two. Shadow faced Amber.

"Amber, why are you doing this?"

"Payback dear brother. For all the times you hurt me."

"Hurt you? Amber I never hurt you!"

"Liar!"

"Well well well, having some family troubles are we?" Eclipse cut in. "Don't worry, you two can have plenty of time to make up in the after-life!"

Both hedgehogs smirked.

"I don't think so Eclipse." Amber stated.

"This fight is long from over." Shadow said.

Both hedgehogs chaos controlled to Eclipse's position.

All three smirked and drew back their hands. Amber's hand was aimed at Shadow. Shadow's hand was aimed at Eclipse. Eclipse's hand was aimed at Amber.

"Chaaaaaaaaooooooooos…" Amber screamed.

"Chaaaaaaaaaaooooooooooos…" Shadow screamed.

"Chaaaaaaaaaaaoooooooos…" Eclipse screamed.

"Arrow!"

"Spear!"

"Sword!"

All three energy bolts hit their target as the three experiments flew in opposite directions. At the exact same second, all three recuperated and flipped over. They all skidded on the wet ground for a second before kicking off at each other, fists drawn.

Shadow's fist made contact with Eclipse's face. Eclipse's fist made contact with Amber's face. And Amber's fist made contact with Shadow's face. All three stumbled back but recuperated. They once again stood in a triangle formation.

"It's time to end this." Shadow stated.

Thunder and lighting now roared in the background which illuminated everyone's face for a second before growing dark again.

Everyone's fists tightly clenched. Shadow began to form a red aura around his body. Eclipse had a silver aura around his body. Amber had a golden aura around her body.

All three bowed their heads, raised their arms, and buckled their knees. Then, simultaneously, all three threw their bodies back.

"Chaos Blast!"

"Chaos Inferno!"

"Chaos Shield!"

The red, silver, and golden energy explosions all met in the middle of their triangle. Upon contact, the three blasts created a red, silver, and golden shield around the three hedgehogs. Slowly, their bodies lifted off of the ground. Energy crackled in the energy shield and rain did not enter.

Then, simultaneously, All three hedgehogs quills began to glow golden.

Amber's quills spiked up in an explosion, but not all the way. It looked somewhat more fluffed up. A golden energy barrier now surrounded her body. Her clothes now slowly wavered up in and down in rhythm with the waves of energy around her body.

Next, Eclipse's quills spiked up all the way and his fur glowed, and energy shield surrounding him.

Finally, Shadow's quills pointed to the heavens as he entered his super form. An energy shield also surrounded his body.

The giant energy shield around the three hedgehogs disappeared. The rain only seemed to slid off of the energy surrounding the three airborne hedgehogs. All three had smirks on their faces.

Shadow spoke.

"Time for the next level."


	12. Fair Fight

Chapter 12

All three super hedgehogs floated silently in the dark and twisting sky. The wind and rain blew furiously but this did not bother the hedgehogs. Shadow still had a smirk plastered on his face.

"This is the next level. Ready to end this?"

Eclipse closed his eyes and smirked.

"Why are you in such a rush to die Shadow?"

"Yeah, let's have some fun first." Amber added.

Shadow shook his head.

"Like I said before, this ends here!"

And with that said, Shadow charged at Eclipse, the energy field around him disappearing with the burst of speed. Eclipse put his two arms in a cross formation as Shadow advanced.

Shadow hit Eclipse with such force, that the blow knocked Eclipse's energy shield away. Eclipse threw his arms outward furiously and delivered an uppercut to Shadow's chin. Shadow was too fast however, as he caught Eclipse's fist. The gold and red hedgehog spun his arm around and twisted Eclipse's arm behind his back.

Shadow continued to add pressure on to bending the arm and it was just about to snap when his face came in contact with a fingerless, gloved fist. Being startled, Shadow released his grip on Eclipse.

The gold and silver hedgehog spun around and delivered a straight kick to Shadow's stomach. Amber also pulled back and delivered her own straight kick at Shadow's stomach. Spit flew out of the dark hedgehog's mouth and his pupils shrunk.

There was a burst of air as Shadow was knocked away from the other two hedgehogs. His vision became blurry as he made a forceful impact with the hard rocky ground. Shadow slowly got up as his vision returned only to see two glowing energy orbs.

Amber and Eclipse both had their arms outstretched and pointed them at Shadow. Amber was the first to release her attack.

"Chaos Arrow!"

The attack flew from Amber's hand and directly at Shadow. Eclipse released his attack next.

"Chaos Sword!"

The two attacks made their way towards Shadow who could not even pull himself up yet.

"Super Sonic Wind!"

A golden gust of energy suddenly knocked the two attacks back into a nearby mountain, completely enveloping it in a massive explosion. After it subsided, there was a giant crater in its place.

All three hedgehogs turned their attention towards the origin of the attack only to find none other than Sonic. However, his fur was now gold and his eyes were a fierce red.

Eclipse floated closer to the hedgehog.

"What do you think you're doing here, weakling?"

Sonic smirked. Amber added her own words.

"This does not concern you blue hedgehog, leave now or perish!"

Sonic shook his head.

"I'm not going anywhere. Because the way I see it, you two were double-teaming Shadow over here." Sonic said pointing a thumb towards Shadow, who was still on the ground.

"Humph. Well, it's your funeral." Amber said. Her energy shield was now surrounding her again. Eclipse also had the mystical energy surrounding him once more.

Instead of responding, Sonic floated down towards Shadow. He landed silently beside the hedgehog and helped him up by the shoulder.

"What are you doing Sonic? This is my battle!"

"Whoa calm down Shadow! I don't mean to butt into your affairs but you can't deny that you need a little help."

Shadow turned his head away from his counterpart. He thought for a moment before facing him again.

"How are you in your super form?"

"Well, when we left the battle, we picked up the chaos and master emerald along the way. I came over to make sure you weren't getting killed but when they double-teamed you, I ran back and transformed to help you."

"The others are not here are they?"

Sonic shook his head.

"They're over that mountain over there." He responded pointing to a near-by mountain.

Sonic continued.

"Now tell me how you are in your super form, along with them."

Shadow shook his head.

"I'm not really sure. I used Chaos Blast and they used similar attacks. When they met they created some kind of energy field around us. While we were inside, we all transformed."

"Wow! That must have been a lot of energy. Anyway, will you take my offer?"

Shadow nodded.

"Alright, I suppose I could use some help."

Sonic smiled and released Shadow who stood straight on his own. Shadow tensed his muscles a bit and his energy field returned. Shadow smirked at Sonic and took to the air, along with Sonic. The two hedgehogs got to level with Amber and Eclipse.

"Now it's a fair fight!" Sonic yelled.

Eclipse smirked.

"It still won't matter."


	13. The Ultimate Battle Part 2

Chapter 13

Super Sonic and Super Shadow floated in the stormy sky, about 100 feet away from Super Amber and Super Eclipse.

"Here we go!" Sonic yelled as he charged. Shadow followed suite and flew beside Sonic. Amber and Eclipse also charged.

Rain was being pushed aside by the powerful energy bursts of the four super hedgehogs. Amber was headed straight for Sonic and Eclipse was headed for Shadow.

Shadow and Eclipse made a strong impact. Immediately upon touching, each super hedgehog began to throw an array of punches and kicks. The golden aura around their bodies burst with each powerful impact as the two hedgehogs pummeled each other.

Sonic and Amber also met. But unlike Eclipse and Shadow, their blows were slower and more powerful.

Amber came at Sonic with a round house kick. Sonic however, threw his hand up and caught her foot. He turned his hand and Amber went spinning on her side. Before she stopped, Sonic threw out his fist and it made contact with Amber's face. Amber immediately stopped spinning and flew towards the ground. Before she made impact, she pointed her hand to the ground and yelled:

"Chaos Arrow!"

The attack made a crack in the rocky ground as Amber was shot up by the force of the attack. Before Sonic had time to react, Amber stuck out her elbow in front of her and hit him with it in the stomach.

Sonic reeled over in pain. Amber put her hand on his back and 'jumped' over him. When she got behind him, Sonic had recovered but Amber already stuck her hand in his back.

"Chaos Arrow!" She hissed.

Before the attack made impact Sonic disappeared in a golden flash of light. He re-appeared behind Amber.

"You can use Chaos Control?" She asked while turning to him.

"That's right."

And with those words, Sonic charged again.

With Shadow and Eclipse

Shadow and Eclipse moved out of their lighting speed fighting style and were throwing heavier punches.

Shadow came at Eclipse with a left hook. Eclipse skillfully darted out of the way and threw his own punch at Shadow. The dark hedgehog did not react in time as Eclipse's fist made contact with the side of his face.

Shadow floated back for a minute before regaining composure. In a flash of light, he was behind Eclipse. Shadow's body began to glow red as he gathered energy.

"Chaos Blast!"

Shadow's attack knocked the bewildered Eclipse away from Shadow. Eclipse was going at least 200 miles an hour as he crashed into a mountain, completely destroying it. The rubble settled with a loud crash and Shadow folded his arms across his chest.

Then, suddenly, the rocks were blown sky high by a huge golden explosion. When it faded, Eclipse floated in a giant crater. Shadow unfolded his arms as the boulders came crashing down.

One boulder was headed straight for Shadow. He simply stuck his hand straight up without looking and released a Chaos Spear, completely destroying the crater. Tiny pebble sized rocks now showered down on Shadow but he paid no attention to it. He looked down upon Eclipse.

Eclipse had a look of pure hatred in his eyes.

"I have had enough!" He hissed.

Eclipse stuck his hand forward towards Shadow. Lighting crackled in his hands as a white orb formed in it.

"TAKE THIS! CHAOS BOMB!"

The orb blasted forward, knocking the rain aside, towards Shadow. Shadow put his hands together and reeled them back in a baseball sticking position. As the orb came closer and closer, Shadow's muscles tensed and his energy field returned. When the orb was a couple of inches away, Shadow swung his fists at the orb.

The orb seemed to bend for a minute and suddenly flew back to its origin, twice as fast as it came. Eclipse simply chaos controlled out of the way as the attack made impact with a flat part of the rocky terrain. There was a white explosion. After it subsided, a giant crater was in its place.

The explosion illuminated both hedgehogs' faces before the sky grew dark again.

With Sonic and Amber

Sonic charged forward through the rain at Amber once again. Before Sonic made contact however, Amber disappeared. She reappeared in a flash of light behind Sonic. She floated away a few feet before turning her body sideways and pointing one outstretched arm at Sonic.

Energy began to crackle in Amber's hand as a huge golden energy orb formed. The stunned Sonic turned his body towards her.

"No way! Her power is increasing!"

Amber smirked.

"Let's see you survive this!" CHAAOOOOOOOOS BEEEEAAAAAAAM!"

A large energy beam shot forth from Amber's hand. Sonic had no time to react as he was hit head-on. The powerful attack knocked the super hedgehog back.

Sonic's golden quills and ears were now flapping forward with the wind as the giant energy beam continued to push.

With Shadow and Eclipse

Shadow turned his head to the side and saw a large energy beam off in the distant sky.

"No!"

Shadow turned his full body towards the attack and flew towards it. Eclipse smirked and followed.

Shadow made his way to the beam to see Sonic fall out from under the beam as it faded and disappeared. In an instant, Sonic's super form burned away and he fell towards one of the three craters created in the battle, which was now filled with rain water.

Shadow's eyes widened. In a flash Shadow sped towards the falling hedgehog. Shadow was just about to grab his hand when he felt a hand reach out and swing him back. Shadow flipped and saw that Eclipse had stopped him and was now in his way.

"Get out of my way Eclipse!" he hissed.

"Now why would I do that when I can see the world's greatest hero drown?"

Shadow looked on in horror. Sonic was mere meters away from the water when suddenly, a silhouette caught him. The three hedgehogs squinted their eyes to see the outline of a bat in the storm.

"Rouge." Shadow said while smiling.

Rouge was flapping her wings hard in the rain as she brought Sonic to the ground, near the edge of the crater.

"You annoying pest!" Eclipse shouted. He pointed his hand towards Rouge.

"Chaos Bomb!"

The white energy orb was released and sped towards them. In less than a second, Shadow chaos controlled in the path of the attack 30 feet away from Rouge and the unconscious Sonic. He had no time to use Chaos Blast and was hit head-on.

The attack made a forceful impact that knocked Shadow out of his super form, and into the rocky, water-filled crater.


	14. Change Of Heart

Chapter 14

Shadow, mow back in his original form, collided with the freezing water with a loud splash. His eyes were firmly shut and his body hung limb as he sank deeper and deeper into the water.

With Rouge

Rouge looked up from Sonic's body to be met with the horrible sight of Shadow taking the Chaos Bomb for her and getting knocked into the rocky, water filled crater.

"Nooo!"

At that point, Knuckles and Tails also made their way through the storm and towards the group.

"What happened to Sonic?" Tails asked.

He was met by teary emerald eyes.

"Amber knocked him out."

Knuckles looked around for a minute and spotted Amber and Eclipse hovering over them, both in their super forms.

"Where's Shadow?"

Rouge turned around and pointed a trembling finger at the rocky crater.

"Oh no."

Knuckles started speeding towards the crater. He pushed hard off the ground and dived into the murky rain water. Parting the water in front of him, Knuckles made his way deeper and deeper into the abyss of water.

He was getting towards the bottom now and luckily spotted an unconscious black and red hedgehog on the rocky bottom. In one swift move, Knuckles shot his hand forth and grabbed Shadow's wrist.

He then kicked off of the rocky ground and swam back up. He had to hurry. He could feel his lungs tighten and was almost out of air. Above him, he could spot a faint bolt of light.

'The surface.'

Knuckles erupted out of the water, now holding Shadow by his neck. He looked at Tails.

"Tails, fly above me and catch Shadow!"

Tails nodded and spun his tails, taking to the stormy sky. He made his way above Knuckles and hovered there. In one motion, Knuckles threw Shadow above him and out of the water. Tails caught him, although sinking down a little because of his weight.

Knuckles had already swam to the edge and was getting out of the water. Tails was just about to fly back as well when suddenly, he felt lighter. The fox looked back and saw Super Eclipse hovering near him, holding the unconscious Shadow around the waist with Shadow's body being horizontal to his.

Eclipse smirked.

"I don't think so. This rat is going to die and there is nothing you can do about it."

Eclipse stretched his free arm towards Tails.

"Chaos Sword!"

The silver attack hit the stunned Tails right in the stomach, sending him flying back to the ground where Rouge, Sonic, and Knuckles were.

Amber also hovered down to Eclipse. Rouge faced her.

"Please, don't let him do this!"

Amber shook her head.

"It is his destiny."

Rouge shook her head.

"Please, this has gone on long enough!"

Amber's eyes widened. Another memory hit her.

FLASHBACK

Shadow stood over the golden hedgehog.

"I though you were stronger."

Shadow's frown then turned into a smile and he stuck his hand forth.

"Thanks Shadow."

"No problem. You can always depend on me."

Amber jerked away from her brother and got into a fighting pose.

"Let's keep going."

Shadow shook his head.

"This has gone on long enough and besides, I don't want to hurt you."

Amber smiled and got out of her fighting pose.

END FLASHBACK

Amber looked over at the unconscious Shadow in Eclipse's grip.

'He never hurt me. He kept me safe.'

Her gaze traveled to Eclipse's face.

'HE is the enemy!'

In a flash, Amber chaos controlled behind Eclipse and stuck her hand into his back.

"Chaos Arrow!"

The yellow bolt made a hole in Eclipse's chest as the white hedgehog coughed up blood and released his grip on Shadow. In a swift motion, Amber scooped him up as Eclipse fell into the water.

She slowly lowered them to the group and laid Shadow besides Sonic.

"I-Is he alive?" Rouge quivered.

Amber nodded. She looked over at Knuckles and Tails who were both in a fighting pose.

"I do not mean you harm. I am sorry for the trouble I've caused."

Her quills fell back down and her fur returned to normal as her super form faded away.

Knuckles and Tails got out of their fighting poses.

All of a sudden, there was a loud boom as water splashed from the crater. Flying out came an extremely angry hedgehog. He stopped and hovered over the crater.

"Amber you TRAITOR!"

Amber huffed.

"The only betrayal I made was fighting Shadow."

"Very well, if that's the way you want it, you'll die along with him."

"I don't think so" A deep voice interrupted.

Everyone turned to face Shadow, who was laying on the ground, in Rouge's arms.

He slowly stood up, all though a little shaky. Rouge supported him with her arm.

He slowly raised his arm and took her hand away from him. Then, he tensed up his muscles. In a flash, Shadow's fur turned gold and an energy barrier surrounded him.

He slowly floated up towards the stunned Eclipse.

"Why won't you die?" He asked through gritted teeth.

Shadow floated closer and reeled his arm back.

"Because, I AM THE ULTIMATE LIFE-FORM!"

Shadow swung his arm and his Eclipse square in the face. The evil hedgehog flew off with a burst of air. Then, Shadow floated back down to the group.

"That will buy us some time."

Exhausted, Shadow took a knee and his super form faded.

Sky

Eclipse flew through the stormy sky and crash landed into a rocky mountain. The mountain completely shattered. He stepped forth out of the rubble.

"Why that little"-

He cut himself off as something caught his eye. He couldn't believe it.

"The Chaos Emeralds!"

Indeed, lying there, in the wet dirt, were the seven mystical gems.

Eclipse threw his head back and laughed hysterically.

"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha, this is TOO perfect."

He raised his hands and the gems floated up and around his head.

"Time to put an end to this."

And in a flash of dark light, he was gone.


	15. The Ultimate Evil

Chapter 15

Shadow was panting hard on the rocky, wet ground. One arm rested upon his knee while the other held him up. The whole group ran over to him.

"You okay Shadow?" Tails asked.

Shadow continued to pant before answering.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Do you think Eclipse is gone?" Knuckles asked.

Shadow shook his head. Suddenly, there was a bright black light in the stormy sky. It faded and Eclipse floated in its place. He was still in his super form and the chaos emeralds floated around his head.

Everyone's eyes widened.

"He has the emeralds!" Rouge shouted.

Amber looked at Knuckles.

"I thought you had them."

"No, I only have the Master Emerald. When Sonic transformed, I thought we should help so while I was in a rush, I must have left them."

"Hahahahahahahahah, time for you all to meet your doom!"

Everyone's eyes traveled back to the sky.

"It is time for you to meet the ultimate power!"

Dark energy bolts crackled around his body and the emeralds as the emeralds started spinning.

"Is he transforming into his Hyper form?" Tails asked while facing Shadow.

Shadow shook his head.

"I sense way more power than that of the Hyper form."

"But how can that be?" Rouge asked.

"I don't know."

Back in the sky, the emeralds started fading in color. They were now gray while they continued to spin. Then, they turned jet black as a black aura surrounded them. Black bolts continued to crackle.

"Why are they black?" Rouge asked turning to Knuckles.

"Power in enriched by the heart." Knuckles murmured.

"Oh no."

Eclipse's pupils started to shrink as his fur turned to a heavy silver. The highlights on his quills, arms, and legs turned a very dark grey. His body began to grow as the emeralds now became a black circle.

There was a small explosion as Eclipse's hover shoes exploded due to the expansion. Then there was a ripping sound as his gloves shredded to pieces. The rings around his wrists and ankles however, expanded with him.

Eclipse's pupils grew into a dark silver and the white of his eyes became bloodshot. His quills still stood on end. His body continued to expand. It stopped when his body was fifty times his original size.

Then, his tail expanded to be his body length. Large gray wings spread from his back. They began to beat to keep the giant body afloat. The emeralds dropped to the ground, now a dull gray color.

The beast's eyes fell upon the group.

"NOW WITNESS THE ULTIMATE POWER! I AM CHAOS ECLIPSE!" His voice was much deeper and seemed to echo.

Sonic awoke at that point and held his head.

"Ah, what is that massive energy?"

His eyes fell upon the transformed Eclipse.

"Damn…"

Shadow stood up and tensed his muscles. His fur blinked gold before he transformed. He was about to fly off when he felt a hand grab his arm. He looked back to see Rouge.

"You can't face him in this state."

"I have to."

"His power is way beyond yours."

"I don't care."

Rouge blinked back tears.

"Shadow please…"

Knuckles ran up to him.

"Shadow wait."

"What?"

Knuckles pulled a small green emerald from his fur pocket. It immediately expanded.

"You'll need some more energy."

Shadow smirked and lowered himself to the ground. Knuckles handed him the emerald. He released it and it began to spin around him. There was a flash of light and the emerald lay on the ground in a dull color. Above it floated Hyper Shadow.

He smirked and flew up towards Eclipse.

"HMM, GONE HYPER AGAIN? IT STILLL WON'T MATTER!"

"Don't speak to soon."

Shadow charged at Eclipse. Before he made contact, Eclipse knocked him away with his huge tail. Shadow flew back before regaining composure. He drew his arm back.

"Chaos Spear!"

The attack flew towards Eclipse. He raised his arms and a dark shield appeared, negating the attack

"NOT QUITE SHADOW!."

He raised his own huge arm and pointed it at Shadow.

"CHAOS SWORD!"

A huge silver energy blast flew from his hand and towards Shadow.

"Chaos Arrow!"

A yellow energy bolt knocked the dark hedgehog's attack toward a mountain, completely engulfing it.

Eclipse turned his gaze towards the origin of the attack. There, now floating in front of Shadow, was Amber in her super form

"YOU ARE STARTING TO ANNOY ME YOU PEST!"

Amber shook her finger.

"Now, now, that's no way to speak to a lady."

Eclipse smirked. In a flash of silver light, he was in front of her.

"CHAOS INFERNO!"

The attack began to proceed but it came out much smaller than Eclipse intended. Instead of a giant explosion, a small silver aura flared from his body, not even making contact with Amber. The monster's eyes widened.

"WHAT IN THE HELL?"

Amber snickered.

"It seems to me that you're not in total control of your new form."

Eclipse's eyes burned with rage.

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME ABOUT POWER LITTLE GIRL? I AM THE ULTIMATE POWER!"

"Apparently not."

"MAYBE I WILL HANDLE THIS IN THE OLD FASHION WAY!"

Amber's smirk faded as Eclipse's monstrous form charged at her.

With Shadow

Shadow had witnessed the whole event.

'He can't control his power yet?'

Shadow smirked as he charged to help Amber.

With Amber

Amber reeled back her upper body to see a giant fist just above her nose. The fist retreated and she straightened up.

"Seems you slowed down a little."

Eclipse growled as his giant silver tail lashed out towards Amber. She easily dodged it by floating to the side. The tail retreated and Amber raised a finger, shaking it.

"You know, I figured something out. Without your Chaos attacks, you're weak."

That was the last straw for Eclipse.

"YOU INSULENT FOOL! I WILL KILL YOU!"

Eclipse drew back his hand and began to gather energy.

"CHAOS BOMB!"

The giant, truck-sized ball of energy was released and flew towards Amber. Her eyes widened. The attack was now ten feet away when a silhouette became visible in the light.

"Chaos Barrage!"

The figure released its attack as hundreds of energy blasts flew from his hands, knocking the energy orb back. The orb flew back towards Eclipse who was panting heavily.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The attack made contact, completely blowing off the lower part of his body, along with the tail. The orb exploded and the giant was knocked back onto the ground, landing with a loud crash.

The figure turned towards Amber to reveal itself as Hyper Shadow.

"Thanks Shadow."

He smirked.

"You know I'll always protect you."

The silver hedgehog's gaze went back towards Eclipse, who was still on the ground.

"DAMN IT! THAT ATTACK CAME OUT WAY STRONGER THAN I INTENED!"

In a flash of light, the hedgehog reformed and flew back towards the other two in the sky.

"I still can't destroy him." Shadow yelled through the rain towards Amber.

"I know a way."

"What?"

"I don't know if your body can handle it but you could try absorbing the power of the Chaos Emeralds."

"But I'm already in my Hyper form."

Amber smiled.

"I know."

Shadow's eyes widened as he grasped onto what she was saying. He smirked and gave her a thumbs-up before disappearing.


	16. A New Level

Chapter 16

Shadow re-appeared with the rest of the group in a flash of light.

"Shadow, what are you doing?" Sonic asked who was now standing on his own again.

"Quick, there's no time, where are the Chaos Emeralds?"

"But why do you want them Shadow? Aren't you already Hyper?" Knuckles asked.

The dark hedgehog nodded his head.

"Yes, but I need to become even more powerful."

"You can't, Hyper mode is the farthest we've ever gone before." Sonic retorted.

Shadow smirked.

"Yes, the farthest YOU have ever gone before."

Sonic's eyes widened.

"Y-You mean. There is a level beyond Hyper?"

Shadow nodded his head.

"But how do you know?" Rouge asked.

Shadow closed his eyes.

"I don't."

"But Shadow you can't. What if your body can't handle it?"

"I am the ultimate life form, I can do anything."

"But we don't know that for sure yet." Tails cut in.

Shadow shot him an icy glare that frightened the little fox.

"I AM the ultimate life form."

Rouge was surprised at Shadow's sudden aggressive behavior.

"Shadow"-

Shadow snapped to her.

"I need the Emeralds. NOW!"

With Amber

Amber reeled her arm back and made a hard impact on Eclipse's monstrous face. The evil hedgehog did not budge an inch or even show signs of pain. Amber's eyes widened.

"How?"

Eclipse then shot out his tail and wrapped it around Amber. The hedgehog did not react in time and was caught as enormous pressure was put on her body.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"HAHAHAHAHA! THAT'S RIGHT! SCREAM LITTLE GIRL! NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU NOW!

Eclipse continued to add pressure as Amber released another horrific scream.

With Shadow

Shadow's sensitive ears picked up the sound of Amber's high-pitched scream. His eyes widened.

"AMBER!"

He whirled back towards Sonic.

"Give me the Emeralds!"

Sonic was too confused to respond. Shadow growled and teleported over to him. In one swift move, the Hyper hedgehog lifted the injured Sonic up by the neck and held him high in the air.

"I will not repeat myself!" Shadow hissed.

Sonic's response was a mere cough as Shadow's tight grip was fastened harder around his neck.

"Shadow Stop!" Rouge yelled.

"Not until he gives me the Emeralds!"

Sonic pointed a weary finger towards a spot on the wet ground, about twenty feet away.

Shadow released his tight grip on Sonic as the blue hedgehog fell to the ground gasping for air.

Shadow flew to the spot and saw the Emeralds, back in their original state. He smirked and raised his hands. The emeralds lifted off of the ground and made a circle around Shadow's body.

The silver hedgehog closed his eyes and tightened his fists as the emeralds began to spin. Energy crackled around Shadow's body and an ice blue light shone from it. The emeralds accelerated and formed a rainbow-colored circle.

With Amber

Amber was still in Eclipse's icy grip when his and her eyes shot open.

"WHAT IS THAT ENORMOUS ENERGY?"

Amber smiled.

"Shadow."

With Shadow

Shadow's face contorted as his eyes shot open, along with his fists. There was a giant blue explosion. Everyone covered their faces as the light nearly blinded them. The light subsided and everyone lowered their hands. What floated in front of them made their mouths drop.

There, floating in a small crater created by pure energy, was the transformed Shadow. A light blue energy now surrounded his body. His silver fur was replaced by an icy blue. The crimson stripes on his body were now much lighter, almost orange. His ruby-red eyes were the same color as his icy fur. The quills on his head and spikes on his back still pointed to the sky. Dark blue energy bolts crackled over his body. Sonic, who had recovered from Shadow's assault, was the first to speak.

"Shadow, is that you?"

The icy blue hedgehog nodded.

"What are you now?" Knuckles asked.

The hedgehog thought for a moment before answering.

"I am Ultra Shadow!"


	17. Until Next Time

Chapter 17

The now gray Chaos Emeralds lay in a dull color as the newly transformed Shadow hovered over them. The entire group was watching with wide eyes.

"How could he have bypassed the Hyper Form?" Sonic murmured.

Shadow laid his icy gaze upon the blue hedgehog.

"I am the ultimate life form!"

Sonic looked up at him and smirked.

"I guess so…"

Another high-pitched scream entered the stormy air as Shadow's ears perked up.

"Amber."

In a flash of blue light, the hedgehog disappeared leaving only thunder and lighting.

With Amber

The female hedgehog could hear her own bones crack as the monstrous Eclipse continued to squeeze her in his tail's grasp.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Eclipse laughed evilly.

"HAHAHAH! DID YOU REALLY THINK SHADOW WAS GOING TO SAVE YOU? YOU ARE MORE PATHETIC THAN"-

"Let her go!" A deep, icy voice cut off.

Eclipse shifted his massive head to the right to be met with the sight of an icy blue hedgehog with light red stripes. The monster's eyes widened.

"NO! THAT ENERGY BURST! IT COULDN'T HAVE BEEN YOU!"

Shadow continued to stare as he tightened his fists, sending blue energy sparks dancing around them.

"I said let her go. Now!"

The moment the last word left his lips, the icy blue energy burst dark blue before subsiding.

"HUMPH, YOU THINK THIS NEW FORM OF YOURS SCARES ME?"

Shadow smirked.

"You should be scared. I have this new power and can totally control it, unlike you!"

Eclipse's face twisted in rage as his tail loosened on Amber. She quicklydarted out of the loosened grip and flew towards the ground, where she collapsed to her knees, her super form fading.

"YOU INSIGNIFICANT LITTLE INSECT! I CAN CONTROL THIS POWER!"

Shadow's smirk grew bigger.

"Then why don't you prove it?"

And with that last word, Shadow charged for Eclipse. Shadow pulled his hand back as blue energy crackled in it.

"Chaos Spear!"

The attack flew ahead of Shadow and towards Eclipse who pulled one of his giant hands back.

"CHAOS SWORD!"

But instead of a giant attack, a blast half the size of Shadow's came forth which was easily knocked out of the way by Shadow's. Eclipse had no time to react and was hit with the attack. It sizzled into his stomach and left a giant burn mark.

Shadow continued to advance and elbowed Eclipse in the stomach, sending the monster reeling over in pain. Shadow took this opportunity and delivered a hard uppercut to Eclipse's chin.

The hedgehog bent backwards from the impact. Shadow, once again without hesitation, delivered a straight kick to his stomach, knocking the monster away. Eclipse regained composure and swung his tail at Shadow, who had his head bowed down.

Without looking up, the hedgehog caught the attack. Shadow looked up at Eclipse's wide eyes as he began to spin his body around. Eclipse was taken full force by the swings and went round and round.

Once gaining enough momentum, Shadow released Eclipse, sending the beasthigher into the sky. Eclipse flapped his mighty wings and to stop himself and growled.

'HOW CAN THIS BE HAPPENING? THE CHAOS FORM IS THE STRONGEST OF THEM ALL!'

Shadow charged up towards Eclipse who chaos controlled out of the way before impact. His giant body reappeared behind Shadow as he swung one massive arm at him. Shadow, with lighting speed, ducked under the swing.

With Amber

'Wow! Eclipse totally out powered me and here comes Shadow, not even breaking a sweat.'

She smiled.

'That's my brother.' Of course, they were not biologically related but treated each other as siblings.

"Amber!"

Amber whirled out of her thought as she spotted Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Rouge running towards her. They were carrying the Chaos Emeralds. She smiled.

"What's up?"

The group stopped in front of her and laid the Chaos Emeralds on the ground. Rouge looked towards the sky.

"So the fight has started?"

"Yes."

"How's Shadow doing?" Tails asked.

"Better than any of us."

With Shadow

Shadow quickly darted out of the way of another swing by Eclipse.

"You're getting slow Eclipse." Shadow mocked.

Eclipse growled and delivered a round house kick. Shadow simply ducked and the leg swung harmlessly above him. Eclipse retreated his leg. Shadow tightened his fists as blue energy orbs surrounded them. He put his hands up boxing style.

"Chaos Fury!"

Shadow darted forward and began pounding his fists mercilessly against Eclipse. Eclipse was too slow to react and was hit head on. Each impact made the monster scoot back a little as Shadow continued to advance.

Shadow stopped advancing and floated back a little, the orbs still surrounding his fists. Eclipse had bloody dents from the hits all over his body. His chest was most heavily hit and was bleeding severely. Shadow was not done however as he shot both the orbs from his hands. The orbs made impact and created a smoke cloud around Eclipse.

The wind quickly cleared it and two massive holes were left in Eclipse's chest. The hedgehog glowed silver before regenerating. Although he looked fine now, he was panting and sweating heavily.

'IT'S NOT FAIR! I TRULY CANNOT CONTROL THIS POWER YET. I ONLY HAVE ONE CHOICE ALTHOUGH THIS GOES AGAINST EVERYTHING I BELIEVE IN.'

Eclipse's wing beating sped up as he took higher to the sky. Shadow followed. They kept going through the rainy and dark sky until they were above the clouds and stopped. The bright yellow sun shined on them as thunder roared from below.

"SHADOW, I TRULY UNDERSTAND THAT I CANNOT YET CONTROL THIS POWER. THAT IS WHY I WILL DEPART."

"And what makes you think I'll just let you go?"

"YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE IN THE MATTER. I CAN DAMAGE YOU MORE THAN PYSHICALLY. FOR INSTANCE, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF PUTTING THE WHITE BAT IN DANGER?"

Shadow winced at the statement but kept his composure.

"What makes you think I care?"

Eclipse smirked.

"WELL, LET US JUST SEE!"

In a flash of dark light, he was gone.

With The Group

The group was startled by a bright light. Rouge's heart leaped as she thought it was Shadow. This was disproved however when a colossal Eclipse appeared. He looked straight at Rouge and smirked.

"YOU!"

In a flash, Eclipse grabbed the bat and chaos controlled away.

With Shadow

A bright light appeared as Eclipse reappeared holding a frightened Rouge in his claws.

"NOW SHADOW! ARE YOU STILL WITHOUT CARE?"

"You scumbag, leave her out of this!"

"NOW WHY WOULD I DO THAT? THINK ABOUT IT SHADOW. IF YOU DON'T LET ME GO I WILL KILL HER RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!"

Rouge's eyes widened.

"W-What?"

"SILENCE!"

Eclipse squeezed his fist andRouge gave a sharp gasp of pain. Shadow winced once again. A dull white energy started surrounding him.

"Let her go!" He hissed.

"ONLY IF YOU LET ME GO!"

Shadow brooded in silence. The only sounds heard were the far away thunder and the steady beats of Eclipse's wings.After a while he answered.

"Fine."

Eclipse smirked.

"VERY GOOD. NOW, WE SHALL CONTINUE OUR BATTLE EXACTLY ONE WEEK FROM THIS HOUR. DONOT WORRY ABOOUT SEAKING ME OUT. WHEN THE TIME COMES I WILL FIND YOU!"

Shadow nodded. Eclipse smirked and tossed Rouge over to Shadow, who caught her with his arms, holding her bridal style. The dull white energy around him disappeared.

Eclipse laughed darkly and disappeared. Rouge faced Shadow sadly.

"I'm sorry Shadow."

Shadow looked at her.

"For what?"

"For causing so much trouble, if you didn't have to worry about my safety you could have destroyed him already."

Shadow smiled

"It's not your fault."

Rouge smiled back at him. She nuzzled against his chest fur.

"Thanks Shady."

Shadow looked back to the sky and spoke.

"And don't worry about Eclipse. I will handle him soon enough."

Rouge nuzzled deeper in his chest and Shadow looked back at her.

"Chaos Control!"

And in a blue flash of light, the two disappeared.

All hail Shadow,

Heroes rise again!

Obliterating everything that's not your friend!

Nothing can stop you now,

No ghosts to bring you down!

When there's nothing left to lose, you win.

All hail Shadow

All hail Shadow

Suffer long and it will set you free.

Only through trial do we, find the strength we need!

It's never over, just another day...

Of hope and tragedies, and everything that comes our way.

Determination of the strong...

Found the meaning that you searched for so long!

All hail Shadow,

Heroes rise again!

Obliterating everything that's not your friend!

Nothing can stop you now,

No ghosts to bring you down!

When there's nothing left to lose, you win.

All hail Shadow

All hail Shadow

Somewhere in chaos we all find ourselves.

This destruction is the only tale we tell.

White is black and black is white,

Right is wrong and wrong is right.

Nothing ever fills this hole inside your heart!

Determination of the strong...

Found the meaning that you searched for so long!

All hail Shadow,

Heroes rise again!

Obliterating everything that's not your friend!

Nothing can stop you now,

No ghosts to bring you down!

When there's nothing left to lose, you win.

All hail Shadow

All hail Shadow

All hail Shadow,

Heroes rise again!

Obliterating everything that's not your friend!

Nothing can stop you now,

No ghosts to bring you down!

When there's nothing left to lose, you win.

All hail Shadow

All hail Shadow

By Magni-Fi


End file.
